Petition drive calls for ‘disincorporation’ of Reno, Texas

Some residents who live in the small Parker County community of Reno say it’s time to dissolve the city’s government and assets. Former Mayor Eric Hunter, who led a petition drive to “disincorporate” the city, said he received the necessary number of signatures from registered voters to put the proposal on the ballot where voters will decide if the city should continue to exist. He collected 496 signatures from registered voters, which is more than the number needed to hold an election, he said. Hunter said he delivered the petitions to the Parker County Elections office and to the city of Reno last week. “I wasn’t surprised by the amount of signatures,” he said. “There are a lot of reasons, not just one root cause.” Hunter said he referred to Chapter 62 of the Local Government code on abolishing a municipality to craft the petition.

According to the code, Reno would have to hold an election to dissolve the city on the next uniform election date when the mayor is also on the ballot. That would be May 2023. Reno Mayor Sam White said he doesn’t understand why a former mayor and council member would want to initiate efforts to abolish the city. Your subscription allows us to provide our readers with quality, relevant journalism that makes a difference. We believe a platform for sharing local news is critical to our community – and we're glad you think so, too. Have questions about your subscription? We're happy to help. Contact us “It’s surprising that you have a mayor involved in city politics for 14 years that helped the city. Now, he wants to tear it down,” said White, who added that he doesn’t understand Hunter’s motives. If residents vote to disincorporate the city, it means water rates would go up because the city would no longer own the water system, and it would also affect services such as fire and police, he said.